PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a lightweight MMA rules bout between Ivan Ivanov (ranked 6002 p4p, 6803 weight class) and Dan Daggett (ranked 546 p4p, 574 weight class). Dan Daggett told me before the fight that he's been watching a lot of DVDs so let's see if that helps him in this one! I can't wait to find out!

Ivanov
vs
Daggett

156 cm
18
150
1 - 1 - 0

168 cm
24
150
0 - 1 - 0

BJJ Blue Belt
Basic striking
Cuts easily

BJJ White Belt
Decent knees
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the lightweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 1 - 1 - 0, fighting out of St Petersburg, Ivan Ivanov!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 1 - 0, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Dan Daggett!
The judges for this bout are Skip Squint, Bruno Hogan and Darius Henderson.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!
The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Daggett fakes with an overhand right and moves in to clinch with Ivanov, pushing him back against the cage.
Ivanov dictating the pace here, as the fighters clinch against the cage.
Ivanov will no doubt start fighting again in a minute but for now he's just having a little rest, leaning Daggett up against the cage.
Daggett working on landing some head shots here - that one got through nicely.
Ivanov missing with knees to the body.
Daggett tries to work over Ivanov's body with a swooping hook but it only glances the target.
Daggett lands an elbow that stopped Ivanov in his tracks for a moment.

It looks like Ivan Ivanov has been cut.
Daggett misses with a knee to the head.
Knees in the clinch landing for Daggett.
Ivanov avoiding damage as Daggett throws knees to the body.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Daggett misses with a knee to the head.
Ivanov trying to land knees to the body.

Daggett's corner calls for him to break the clinch, which he does.
Sloppy strikes from Ivanov. Those never looked like landing.

Ivanov fakes an overhand right and shoots for a takedown. Daggett sprawls well initially but Ivanov persists and gets the takedown into half guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.
Fantastic stuff here - a very entertaining period of action, which has drawn cheers from the crowd.
Ground and pound from Ivanov.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ivanov throwing shots but Daggett is blocking nicely.
Ivanov definitely looks more muscular than last time we saw him fight.
Ivanov perhaps working for something from half guard, or maybe not. It looks like he's just sitting there.
Ivanov lands strikes from half guard.
Ground and pound from Ivanov.
Ivanov thows a huge punch but Daggett dodges it nicely.
Ivanov trying to mount his opponent but Daggett defends it.
Ivanov working over Daggett with some ground and pound. Daggett looks like he wants out of this position, which is understandable.
Daggett really doesn't want to stay on the ground with Ivanov. If he can't get it back to his feet, it's only a matter of time before he'll be tapping out.
Daggett is looking to regain full guard. Not this time though.
Daggett is still trying to improve position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Daggett trying to control here.
Daggett is holding on to half guard well.
Daggett regains full guard, whilst avoiding punches from Ivanov.
Ivanov slows down the pace of the fight, as he sits in guard.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Ivanov with a nice head shot there.
Ivanov working some ground and pound from guard but it's not doing any damage.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Daggett wants to get back to his feet but Ivanov is in a dominant position and won't allow it.
We may be looking at a referee standup if the pace doesn't pick up soon.
Ivanov throws a big right hand that misses.

The referee decides to stand the fighters back up.

Ivanov closes the distance and after a bit of a stuggle, scores a takedown into Daggett's guard.
Daggett managing to control the position.
Daggett keeping moving, preventing Ivanov from controlling successfully.
Daggett not looking particularly offensive just at the moment.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov controlling from the guard. I say controlling but really, he's stalling.
Daggett working a defensive guard here.
Ivanov prevents Daggett from getting back to his feet.
Ivanov working from the guard for now, landing some ground and pound.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Ivanov throwing strikes but missing.
Ivanov loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ivan Ivanov dominated that round.
The cut man is working on Ivan Ivanov's cut.
The fighters' corners scream their final instructions, as the referee calls time. Here we go, back to the action!

Daggett wants to clinch.

Ivanov changes levels and drives through with a really nice takedown into side control. Daggett looks really pissed at himself for not defending that better.
Daggett is trying to control Ivanov's posture but Ivanov avoids it.
Ivanov working away diligently from side control. Landing strikes effectively there - that will score him some points on the judges scorecards.
Ivanov working away.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ivanov is working Daggett over with some ground and pound from side control.
Ivanov has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Ivanov lands a few punches from side control.
Ivanov landing with strikes to the head and body from side control.
We get told so often about how wrestlers don't like to be on their backs. Let's see if Daggett can do anything to dispel that myth.
Daggett is looking to reverse the position.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ivanov creates a bit of distance and throws down some hard shots.
Ivan Ivanov overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.
Ivanov wants to control but Daggett is keeping him busy.
Daggett is trying to get back to half guard.
Ivanov wants to lay and pray for a moment but Daggett keeps working.
Ivanov working away.
Check out the look on Ivanov's face as he threw that strike - that's one determined fighter!
Ivanov landing strikes.
Ivanov is looking to take a break and control but Daggett is keeping him honest, looking to work from the bottom.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov tries to cartwheel into mount but he doesn't manage it.
Daggett wants to control but Ivanov postures up.
Ivanov advances to full mount.
Ivanov lands with some strikes.
Daggett is desperately trying to get back to half guard.
Ivanov lands a shot to the body, followed up by a shot to the exposed head of his trapped opponent.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Ivanov tries to control but Daggett wriggling away.
Ivanov controlling the pace for now.
Ivanov dominating with strikes here.
Ivanov with a couple of short strikes.
Daggett is trying desperately to improve position.
Ivanov working the ground and pound effectively.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Daggett trying desperately to get to his feet.
Ivanov sitting in mount, just looking to control for the moment.
Ivanov is landing with some decent strikes but Daggett is trying to advance his position so the referee is letting the fight continue.
Ivanov lands a big elbow.
Daggett is in a horrible position here. Ivanov smacks him with another shot as he tries to escape the position.
We've seen a great period of action over the last minute or so - credit to both fighters for going all out!
Ivanov looking to control but Daggett is working nicely, looking to advance position himself.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Ivan Ivanov dominated that second round.
The cut man is working on Ivan Ivanov's cut.
The fighters get back to their feet, the hooter sounds and we're back to the action! This is the final round!

Ivanov shoots in for a takedown. He's persisting with it as Daggett sprawls well. Daggett wins this battle and keeps the fight standing. Ivanov gets slowly back to his feet.
Ivanov misses with a takedown attempt - Daggett sprawls well and throws a nice strike on the way out which just misses.

Ivanov has closed the distance and engaged Daggett in a clinch.
Daggett misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Ivanov.

Daggett manages to break the clinch.
Daggett tries to clinch up against the cage, rushing in to close the distance. Ivanov manages to break the clinch and circles back to the middle of the mat.

Ivanov throws the overhand right but ducks down into a quick takedown attempt. Daggett was covering up waiting for the punch and Ivanov finishes the takedown easily into guard.
Ivanov is pushing down on Daggett's leg trying to pass to half guard. Daggett is fighting to maintain full guard but Ivanov has managed to sneak the leg through.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Ivanov scores with a couple of good hammerfists.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Ivanov is pressing down on Daggett's thigh, looking to free his foot. Daggett is holding on for now.
Ivanov is just content to waste time from the top position. Daggett takes advantage of the situation and regains full guard.
Ivanov looking to pass the guard.
Ivanov is working hard here to advance position.
Ivanov pushes down on Daggett's leg and manages to get into half guard.
Ivanov wants to pass to mount but Daggett is defending the position.
Daggett pushes Ivanov off looking to stand but Ivanov dives back in and keeps control.
Ivan Ivanov is fighting for a decision here - he's started to take the cautious approach.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
A lull in the action here being met with boos from the crowd.
Daggett is trying to get back to full guard.
The referee calls for the fighters to work.
Daggett wants to get back to his feet.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Daggett wants to improve his position but Ivanov is controlling well.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
Daggett closes this distance looking for a takedown but Ivanov circles away.
Ivan Ivanov is looking to throw some combinations by the looks of things.

Ivanov closes the distance and pushes Daggett back into the cage.
Daggett trying to land knees to the body.

Daggett pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.

Daggett drives through and clinches with Ivanov against the cage.
Ivanov on the defensive, avoiding the knees to the body.

Daggett breaks from the clinch.
Ivanov is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Daggett can do to turn this around?
Daggett wants to clinch but Ivanov slips to the side

and Ivanov counters with a driving takedown into guard. Nice work there by Ivanov.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Daggett looking to control but Ivanov passes into half guard.
Ivanov with a momentary lay and pray from half guard.
Ivanov seems to have a rather negative gameplan on the ground. He seems keen to just score the takedown and hold down Daggett for as long as he can get away with.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.

And that's the end of the fight!
Ivan Ivanov showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Ivanov, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Skip Squint scores the fight 30:27
Judge Bruno Hogan scores the fight 30:27
Judge Darius Henderson scores the fight 30:27

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Ivan Ivanov!